A distraught son has told a court how he desperately tried to free his father and two friends from a sinking Land Rover after it was swept away in a swollen river.
Rob Forbes, 40, had got out of the vehicle to photograph it crossing a shallow part of a river known as a ford in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park, an inquest heard.
But the Land Rover Discovery driven by his father Les Forbes, 70, and containing his friends Scott Thomas Daddy, 28, and Kenneth Patrick Hibbins, 59, was washed off the submerged cobbles.
Mr Forbes Jr jumped into the freezing River Esk, near Glaisdale, and tried to open the vehicle’s rear door.
He doggedly clung onto a ladder above the rear bumper, struggling to open the door, until the vehicle was fully submerged and he was pulled, barely conscious, to safety by firemen.
The car had been swept downstream and sunk around 300ft from the ford, near a farm, and its three occupants drowned. Attempting to recall the tragedy on December 28, Mr Forbes was still so traumatised he was initially unable to speak at the inquest.
He told how his father drove on to the ford, but said: “Before I knew it, the vehicle was in the water.”
He jumped in and was able to grab the ladder and cling on.
He heard Mr Daddy shout “I will smash a window”.
He recalled: “The water level was just below the back window. Items were bobbing up and down in the vehicle. I (got) my hand on the back door and lifted the catch. I managed to get it open about ten inches but it was too heavy and closed again.”
He continued to cling on because he “could not face leaving the car and letting the lads down”.
“I could hear someone banging with a fist or boot,” he said.
“Then the vehicle went down.”
He said he did not remember much after seeing the emergency services arrive.
Accident investigators found the group were trapped because the vehicle electrics were knocked out so the windows would not open while a metal dog cage blocked escape at the rear.
The inquest at Northallerton Coroner’s Court in North Yorkshire was told the group were experienced green lane driving enthusiasts, who use 4x4s to explore tracks and unsurfaced roads.
Les Forbes’s Discovery was fitted with a snorkel to stop water entering the engine and chunky off-road tyres.
Rob Forbes told how they were in a convoy of three which had crossed several fords on the morning of December 28 before approaching the one near Glaisdale.
One of the other drivers had already decided not to attempt the crossing.
Post mortem examinations confirmed the three men drowned and tests showed no trace of drugs or alcohol in Les Forbes.
Coroner Jon Heath recorded misadventure conclusions for all of them.
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